


Found Your Place in the World Tonight

by treefrogie84



Series: Take the love that I've embraced [4]
Category: Supernatural, Wayward Sisters (TV)
Genre: Asexual Patience Turner, Demisexual Kaia Nieves, Established Relationship, F/F, Lesbian Claire Novak, Making Out, Token Straight Alex Jones, back from the dead... again, late night ice cream, post-hunt come down, questionable motels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-23 23:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14343144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treefrogie84/pseuds/treefrogie84
Summary: The drive back to Sioux Falls from the 100 Mile Wilderness in Maine is over twenty-eight hours. There's no way they can make that in one shot, not with how banged up Claire and Kaia are. Instead, they find a crappy motel a few hours south.





	Found Your Place in the World Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> As always, beta'd by the wonderful [Dorkily](http://dorkilysoulless.tumblr.com) because he's great like that.
> 
> Title is from Halestorm's Rock Show

One of these days, they’re going to get an angel on board with their ragtag little group so every time Kaia dies, Claire doesn’t have to go backpacking in the ass-end of the universe. Or a reaper, Claire’s not picky. This is the third time she’s had to go after her girlfriend and frankly, Purgatory is getting more than a little old.

It is getting easier, but easier is not the same as simple. She still has to break into the bunker, steal Dean’s fancy axe thing-- he still doesn’t approve and can go fuck himself-- find a rogue reaper to carry her across… She’s exhausted by the time she even gets to Purgatory, let alone fighting her way to wherever Kaia’s holed up this time.

Claire and Kaia hit the ridge and exit portal on the third day, flinging themselves through and landing in the foreign wilderness of Maine. This part, at least, Claire’s prepared for-- Alex and Patience are waiting on the nearest road, only a few miles hike away along the trail. Turning on the GPS on her phone is enough to let them know Claire and Kaia are through and will be back soon.

The last half-mile sucks. They were already in pretty rough shape-- Kaia’s been running on fumes for months, they’re both torn up from the constant battle that is Purgatory-- and then Claire twists her ankle coming down a ridge along the trail. Oh, and they ran out of water a mile back. Claire just about cries when she sees Alex’s grey Corolla, Alex and Patience sitting at the picnic table nearby and playing cards.

“Holy shit, what the fuck did you do?” Alex jumps up, drags Kaia over to the table, already checking her over.

Patience hands Claire her water bottle and glares at her until she sits down too. “They just got out of Purgatory, Alex. Cut them some slack.”

“When they stop showing up injured!”

Claire looks down at her arm, the nasty cut she’d gotten from the gorilla-wolf thing that’d hunted her from the moment she landed, hastily bandaged with strips torn from her flannel, and back at Alex, “Anytime you feel like being the one running into danger, you’re welcome to join in.”

“Fuck, will you two lay off the bickering?” Kaia asks beside them. “It’s like you hate each other or something.”

“Or something,” Claire cracks before draining the water bottle.

“Y’all are ridiculous.” Patience shakes her head and heads back to the cars to pick up some more supplies. “Jody is already asking questions, so you’d best be coming up with a story to tell her when we get back to civilization.”

“Shit,” Claire says before turning to face the forest that surrounds them. “Living in the woods. It can’t be that bad, right? I mean, what’s the worst that’s going to happen?”

“Wendigo,” Kaia deadpans. “Mothman. Are there Jersey Devils this far north?” Slinging an arm around Claire, she tilts her head to rest on Claire’s shoulder. “No running water.”

Claire wrinkles her nose and relaxes a miniscule amount into Kaia’s hold. “Good point.”

It doesn’t take long for Alex to finish checking them over, cleaning up the worst of their cuts and bruises before shuffling them into the car. Claire doesn’t remember much of the drive south-- shoved into the backseat, warm and safe for the first time in days, she passes out on Kaia’s shoulder as soon as they get to the highway.

 

* * *

 

It’s full dark when Alex pulls into a crappy motel a few hours south, the speed bump waking Claire up just in time to see a hideous painted cutout of a butler wearing yellow checked pants through the window. Jerking back, she blinks a couple times, waiting for it to resolve into something that makes sense under the sodium yellow lights of the overhang.

It never does.

“Where the fuck are we?” she yawns. “And what the fuck is that?”

Patience turns in her seat, glancing at Kaia still dozing behind her, before meeting Claire’s eyes, “Uh… Biddleford. It’s been a long day for us too.”

Alex pushes through the office door, two keyrings in hand that she drops into Patience’s lap. “So, good news: we got the last two rooms.”

“The bad news?” Kaia grumbles out.

“They’re both singles. Which is why they were the last ones.” Carefully, she eases the car around the huddle of motorcycles and heads towards the back section of rooms.

Claire watches the biker smoking outside one of the rooms. It’s hard to see the patches on his vest in the dark, but she doesn’t see any that raise red flags. All the same, she keeps an eye on him while Alex and Kaia fumble open the two doors. He must see her watching, because he sketches a half-assed salute after flicking the cigarette butt out into the parking lot.

Kaia stops on her way back out to the car, following where Claire’s looking. “Trouble?” She asks quietly, barely audible over Alex and Patience’s chatter through their still open door.

Swallowing, Claire shakes her head and follows her to the car. “Nah. I’m just…” she trails off, not sure how to finish. “It’s fine.”

“Fucked up, insecure, neurotic, and exhausted? Yeah.” Kaia slams the trunk shut, handing Claire her bag before locking the trunk and checking the car doors. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

Kaia detours enough to toss Alex the car keys and pull the door firmly shut before following Claire into their room.

Their room is… hideous. Tobacco stained walls, a comforter that looks like it’s straight out of a horror movie, stains on the carpet that Claire doesn’t want to investigate too closely. Closing her eyes in horror, she turns blindly towards Kaia.

“I’ve stayed in worse but…”

“It’s not a tree and there’s very little chance of anything nasty attacking us.” Kaia reaches up to cup her cheek. “Let’s get cleaned up.”

Claire turns her head to kiss Kaia’s palm before wrapping her arms around her and kissing her forehead. Breathes for a moment, because she’s right. They’re alive, on the correct plane of existence, safe, and they even have a bed. They’re already ahead of where they were this morning.

Kaia kisses her firmly before pushing her towards the bathroom, “We both stink. Go shower.”

Dragging Kaia towards the bathroom, Claire starts to ask, “Wanna--” before looking into the bathroom. “Nevermind.”

She’s pretty sure neither of them can even pee without knocking a knee into the sink, let alone fitting both of them in the shower. She’s not even sure there’s enough room in there to wash her hair without getting mildew in it.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.” Kaia reaches over, snags Claire’s towel out of her bag, and hands it over. “Get moving.”

Claire rushes her shower, washing the dirt and ichor off as quickly as she can. These shitty motels always have crap water heaters, and while Kaia can and will shower in cold water, she shouldn’t have to. Ten minutes, in and out, before she’s clean and trading places with Kaia.

Looking at the comforter-- random shiny patches, like they’ve been scrubbed and bleached, a couple of burn marks-- Claire shakes her head and pulls on a t-shirt and flannel sweatpants before stripping the blanket off and tossing it into the corner beneath the TV. The sheets below look and smell clean at least, stark white and crisp, but not crusty.

Kaia tumbles out of the bathroom still damp before hastily pulling on sweats and pulling Claire close. “What do you think? Bed safe?”

“What’re bedbugs gonna do to us?”

Kaia shudders, “Ugh. Disgusting. I was thinking more bodily fluids.”

“The sheets look ok. Blanket was gross though.”

“Good enough.”

“Never let it be said I don’t take my lady to the fanciest of places,” Claire laughs, dancing away from Kaia’s poking fingers and collapsing on the bed.

Kaia follows her down, straddling her hips and pressing Claire into the bed. She takes her time, running her hands under Claire’s t-shirt to wrap around her ribcage and kissing the bolt of her jaw.

Claire shifts, holding Kaia’s hips in place before chasing her lips. She moans into the kiss, relaxing as their mouths meet and part over and over again.

“Thank you,” Kaia whispers.

“Anytime.” Claire arches into Kaia’s hand before reaching up to interlace their fingers. “I’ll always come for you.” Rolling them, she smiles down in the curtain created by her hair, “If you’d stop dying though, that’d be great.”

“Shut up,” Kaia says, tickling Claire with her free hand. “You love me.”

“I do. I really do.”

Their laughter trails off and they roll onto their sides, tucking into each other as best they can, trading soft touches and kisses. They’re more than warm enough between the two of them, so Claire reaches over and turns out the light.

 

* * *

 

Alex catches the keys Kaia tosses her and pockets them before turning around. “Do you-- Oh.”

Patience has already stripped out of her sweatshirt and is digging through her bag for her pajama pants, “What’s up?”

“Was going to see if you wanted to run to the store with me. But if you’re…”

“Nah, I could go for some ice cream and--” On cue, the shower in Claire and Kaia’s room to screams to life. “Yeah, let’s go.”

She has a point. From experience, Alex knows that they have, at most, thirty minutes once the shower starts before the sex noises start.

They take their time at the store, wandering around the aisles and picking up some extra things just to kill time. Eventually, they end up at the ice cream shop in the front of the parking lot, sitting on the curb with a banana split (Patience) and milkshake (Alex), swapping back and forth as the mood strikes them.

“I don’t know why everyone is so intent on alcohol,” Patience says, gesturing with her spoon. “This tastes a lot better after a rough day.”

Alex snorts, “Ice cream doesn’t help you forget. Which is at least half of what they’re going for.”

Patience is quiet for a long time beside her, mashing the remaining banana into the side of the container. “Given the option, wouldn’t you forget?”

“No,” Alex snorts. “The shit with… with the vampires, it made me who I am.” She hesitates for a moment before laughing, “Okay, I take that back. Wouldn’t lose my virginity in the back of a pick up truck. Should have at least made him take me to his parents’ basement.”

Patience laughs and nods. “Not really my thing, but I get it.”

“It’s been over an hour, think they’re done?”

Patience shrugs but climbs to her feet way, “If not, we’ll just make fun of them in the morning.”

“We’ll be doing that anyway.”

“True.”

Alex wants a pop, so they take the sidewalk back to the motel instead of hopping the completely ineffectual two foot barricade between the parking lots. The butler mascot icon thing stuck to the side of the building glows in overhead lights, reflecting back the yellow light so it looks even worse.

“I kinda want to tear it down and burn it,” Patience says quietly, waiting for the vending machine to drop the can. “It keeps looking at me.”

“We’re not committing arson on a plastic sign,” Alex hisses, grabbing the can and marching away. “Let’s save our crime spree for something worthwhile.”

Patience fake pouts before jogging to catch up, falling in beside her. “Fine…”

The light is out in Claire and Kaia’s room, which bodes well for them being able to get some sleep. It’s not that Alex minds sharing a bed-- Patience is really good at sharing the covers-- or even that Claire and Kaia are having a good time together. It’s just-- There’s just some things that she’s not interested in overhearing and her might-as-well-be-sister having sex is one of them. She at least can roll her eyes and ignore it. Patience is actively awkward whenever forced to listen to it which is even worse.

Patience flips the TV on when they’re inside, turning it to Jimmy Fallon and helping Alex get the groceries put away. They’re mostly silent, chuckling occasionally at some joke or another while they change.

Alex looks at the blanket, the bed, and pulls her tennis shoes back on. “I’ll be back with blankets that aren’t covered in spooge.”

Patience wrinkles her nose, but nods, stripping the bed of the blankets and top sheet.

It takes a few minutes to get comfortable-- neither of them are used to sharing a bed-- but they finally figure out a way to make it work for both of them. Alex double checks the lock, that their phones are plugged in, and flips off the overhead light, moving cautiously across the room to her side of the bed in the blue light of the TV.

“Night,” she mutters, hiking her blanket up to cover her face from the glare.

Patience mumbles something in return, patting her shoulder, and then Alex is asleep without any further thought.

**Author's Note:**

> Normally, this is where I'd be begging you to leave me comments and notes on anything else I've written instead of this. But... This is going to be a series (eventually) and I know I won't remember to remove that note when the challenge is over. So instead, go love on [everyone else's entries for this month](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/SPNColdestHits). (Also, I like how this one turned out.)
> 
> Also, this month's challenge was pretty much written with me in mind-- the best part of writing any supernatural fic is finding the crappy motels.


End file.
